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Recommendations for a Play, Novel and Comic

From the depths of space to a humble convenience store, here are some must-read works of fiction

by Perry Continente

"Two Trains Running" by August Wilson

"Two Trains Running" by August Wilson

Photo credit: Liz Lauren

The play: “Two Trains Running” by August Wilson

August Wilson is slowly starting to become a household name and with the Oscar-nominated adaptations of his works “Fences’’ and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” I personally consider him one of America’s greatest playwrights in recent years.

Any play from Wilson’s “Century Cycle” which chronicles the African American experience in every decade from 1900 through 1990 is a masterpiece, but I consider the ‘60s set “Two Trains Running” one of his best.

The play’s themes of gentrification, protest and restorative justice resonate as strongly now as ever. His textured characters and sharp social critique bring this tale to life as only he could.

Also check out: “The Lieutenant of Inishmore” by Martin McDonagh

A dark, violent, and hilarious play about a psychopathic Irish terrorist with a soft-spot for felines, few playwrights can match McDonagh’s energy or sardonic wit. As delightful as any play featuring cattle mutilation can be.

The novel: “Lincoln in the Bardo” by George Saunders

Primarily a short story writer, Saunders’ first attempt at a novel cinched the 2017 Booker Prize and for good reason: there is nothing else like it.

The novel alternates between the perspectives of Abraham Lincoln’s recently deceased son Willie and the other spirits inhabiting an intermediary plane before the afterlife.

A large portion of the book is historical fiction, a collection of historical accounts, some real and some fabricated by Saunders. The novel handles its fantastical setting and its atypical structure with disarming ease.

It is a dense novel, but never indulgently so. Experimental, virtuosic, and wholly original, “Lincoln in the Bardo” is a can’t miss.

Also check out: “Convenience Store Woman” by Sayaka Murata

Switching gears completely, “Convenience Store Woman” is an empathetic look at someone who doesn’t fit neatly into a rigid society. Murata approaches her protagonist with a care, subtlety and empathy that the woman herself is seldom afforded.

Photo credit: Fiona Staples

The comic: “Saga” by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples

Fresh despite a three-year hiatus, “Saga” is an ambitious, entertaining and thought-provoking modern comic.

Described by its creators as “Star Wars for perverts,” “Saga” takes the familiar trope of two star-crossed lovers from warring factions eloping and builds something truly special with it.

Every character, from a TV-headed prince to a romance novel writing cyclops, is tragically flawed, sympathetic, compelling and brought to life by Staples’ art, which has become the high-water mark in modern-day American comics.

The story’s many twists and turns are unpredictable. Alternatively heartwarming, hilarious and heartbreaking, “Saga” marries the surreal and the familiar so deftly that when you fall in love with the gay fish journalists it feels like the most obvious thing in the world.

Also check out: “The Sandman” by Neil Gaiman

The author’s magnum opus, this is less like a linear narrative and more like a web of interwoven myths for the pantheon he conjures up. About a dysfunctional family of deities and the poor mortals whose lives collide with theirs, psychedelic visuals from varied artists complement the story. “The Sandman” withstands the test of time and is the best.